The following words and terms, when used in this chapter and in studies and reports conducted pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 2165, Subchapter C, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) Agency Employee--The full-time equivalent (FTE) of a person performing services on site under the direction of a state agency, including hours worked by full-time employees, part-time employees, and consultant and contract individuals as defined by the state auditor including employees paid from funds maintained outside the treasury and hours worked by volunteers performing necessary services. (2) Agency Space Allocation--The area assigned to an agency calculated on the basis of Gross Area less the following areas: (A) Space designated and regularly used for public activities, including ancillary space such as lobbies, corridors, toilet rooms and refreshment areas associated with the public space. This does not include lobbies and other space ancillary to space primarily intended for internal use by FTEs in the course of interfacing with clients or to accommodate occasional visits by members of the public; (B) Vertical shafts or chases used for circulation (elevators or stairs) or mechanical, electrical, telecommunication, or data cabling distributions; (C) Mechanical, electrical, telecommunication, and data cabling rooms which house equipment serving more than a single tenant; and (D) Other areas which are not relevant to tenant agency functions. (3) Circulation Space--Percentage added to open or built-out spaces to provide adequate egress within allocation. (4) Commission--The Texas Facilities Commission (TFC). (5) Facilities Service Center--Central internet site where application for all facilities-related work shall be requested. Services available through the Facilities Service Center include leased or state owned space assignments, space planning and feasibility studies, real estate market studies, new construction, modifications and alterations of state owned and leased facilities, exclusion requests for modifications to state owned or leased facilities, inspections and surveys, and architectural/engineering services or consultations. The internet address for the Facilities Service Center is: http://portal.tfc.state.tx.us/fcsm/facilityfrontpage.asp. (6) General Space Allocation Guidelines--Guidelines developed by TFC with tenant agencies based on analysis of agency functional needs, adjacencies and quantities of space. (7) Gross Area--Gross Floor Areas shall be the area within the inside perimeter of the outside walls of the building with no deduction for hallways, stairs, closets, interior wall thickness, columns, or other features. When floors open to an atrium, the inside finished surface of the walls enclosing the atrium shall be used in lieu of an outer building wall. (8) Space Allocation Ratio--The mathematical result of dividing the tenant agency's Space Allocation by the total number of agency employees per site. (9) Space Use Study--A study conducted by the Commission to determine space requirements for state agencies. (10) State Agency--A department, commission, board, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state government created by the state constitution or a state statute; the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, the Texas Judicial Council; and a university system or an institution of higher education as defined by §61.003, Education Code, except a public junior college. (11) Usable Office Space--That area of space as defined in paragraph (2) of this section, computed by measuring from the finished surface of the office side of a corridor and/or permanent wall, to the center of partitions that separate interior spaces from adjoining Usable Areas, and the inside finished surface of the dominant portion of the permanent outer building walls. (12) Waiver--The Commission's decision to allow more square feet for an Agency Space Allocation than the tenant agency's General Space Allocation Guidelines provide. |
